School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
FIL 4836: THEORIES AND HISTORY OF FILM COMEDY (3 credit hours)
Time & Location: 2 meetings a week of 150mins each, LRT
Instructor:
Phone:
Gerald Sim, Ph.D
561 297 2050
Office Hours: TBA @ CU 217
Email: gsim@fau.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Why do jokes and comedies make us laugh? Are those reasons culturally specific or universal? What causes one person
to laugh uncontrollably but bring no reaction out of another? Important thinkers like Aristotle, Sigmund Freud and
Henri Bergson have dwelled on the topic. In the course of examining the comedy genre across various contemporary
media forms, this course will survey several subgenres (e.g. silent, screwball, gross-out, dark, etc.) and ask if they hold
cultural, social or political significance for their audiences. We will also spend time looking at foreign examples of
comedy to think about how they might be similar or different. Similarities will suggest that a universal definition of
comedy exists, while differences can indicate cultural difference.
Comedy, we will find, is a narrational mode i.e. a method of storytelling, meant immediately to elicit laughs. But more
significantly, it is used as a form of social and political criticism. This is obvious enough in for example, comics with
explicitly political material like Chris Rock and The Daily Show. However, even comedy like The Three Stooges that
might seem harmless, meaningless and purely entertaining tends to provide commentary on who we are and how we
live our lives. Laughing at a joke can seem like a visceral and involuntary reaction. But these personal acts are also
connected to the values that define our cultures and societies.
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REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS
Henri Bergson, Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic. All books are available at FAU bookstore.
Geoff King, Film Comedy.
Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint.
Stanley Cavell, Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage.
5. PDFs of readings available on Blackboard.
ATTENDANCE and PARTICIPATION
Both attendance and participation will affect your final grade. You are expected to attend all class meetings on time, in
full, and are responsible for finding out the events of a meeting in the event of any absence.
The success of this course, and a substantial part of your final grade, relies heavily on the quality of your class
participation. Do not underestimate the influence of participation on your final grade. Being an active participant goes
beyond being the loudest and the most talkative person in class. You must show that you are engaging with the material
and add to the discussion, not detract from it. Take down your ideas, questions, thoughts and reflections on screenings
as you view them or immediately after, and on readings as you read them (perhaps on the margins) and be prepared to
raise these ideas in class. You are expected to be familiar with screenings and readings.
Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. The use of cell phones (including text-messaging) during class time (including
screenings) is forbidden. Failure to comply will impact the participation grade very significantly. Laptop computers for
note-taking only must be used discreetly, with permission and cannot be used during screenings.
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DEADLINES AND GRADES
Deadlines are clearly defined, and you are expected to honor them. As a rule, late assignments will be graded down
or not be accepted at all.
All work that you turn in must be typed, and stapled or paper-clipped. Loose pages will not be accepted.
All assignments and examinations must be completed. Failure to do so will result in an “F” for the course.
ASSIGNMENTS
FINAL GRADES will be based on the following:
4-5 page Paper 20%
7-8 page Paper 30%
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Midterm
15%
Final Exam
15%
Attendance & Participation
20%
OTHER POLICIES
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students who require special accommodations due to a
disability to properly execute coursework must register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) located in
Boca Raton - SU 133 (561-297-3880), in Davie - MOD I (954-236-1222), in Jupiter - SR 117 (561-799-8585), or at
the Treasure Coast - CO 128 (772-873-3305), and follow all OSD procedures.
Students at Florida Atlantic University are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. Academic dishonesty,
including cheating and plagiarism, is considered a serious breach of these ethical standards, because it interferes with
the University mission to provide a high quality education in which no student enjoys an unfair advantage over any
other. Academic dishonesty is also destructive of the University community, which is grounded in a system of mutual
trust and places high value on personal integrity and individual responsibility. Harsh penalties are associated with
academic dishonesty. See www.fau.edu/regulations/chapter4/4.001_Code_of_Academic_Integrity.pdf.
For more details on issues concerning Students with Disabilities or Illnesses, Plagiarism/Student Codes of Conduct or
Absences Due to Illness, consult the University Catalog or Student Handbook. Do not hesitate to ask me or the section
leaders for clarification.
COURSE READING SCHEDULE
WEEK 1
WHAT’S SO FUNNY? Introduction to Philosophies and Theories of Comedy
Course and personal introductions.
Henri Bergson, “Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic.”
Screening:
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
(US: Larry Charles, 2006)
One A.M. (US: Charles Chaplin, 1916)
WEEK 2
Aristotle, from Poetics. <http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.1.1.html> ATTN: Pt V and SKIM Pts I-III.
Sigmund Freud, from Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious.
Screening:
Smiley Face (US: Gregg Araki, 2007)
Selections of The Three Stooges
Comedian (US: Christian Charles, 2002)
WEEK 3
Comedy: A Narrational Mode
Geoff King, “Introduction” and “Chapter 1: Comedy and Narrative,” Film Comedy.
Screening:
The King of Comedy (US: Martin Scorcese, 1983)
DUE in Week 3: Paper 1
Length: 4-5 Pages
Write an essay on how Bergson, Aristotle and/or Freud explains, illuminates or describes the humor of a specific
comedy bit. It may be a scene from a comedy film not on the syllabus, a passage from comedic literature, a part of a
comedy routine, etc. For an assignment of this length, you should select a specific and manageable object to work with.
The point of this assignment is to apply the theoretical/ philosophical ideas we have read to carry out a detailed textual
analysis. Use the reading to illuminate the text, and produce an interesting reading of what you have chosen to examine.
The most crucial component of this paper is an exhibition of KNOWLEDGE of the reading in question. Specific and
direct references (citations) to the readings are NECESSARY. Your notes, and the highlighting and underlining that you
made on your readings will come in handy here. Be careful and inventive in your analyses. Uncover as many details of
its constructions as you can. Always keep the critics in mind as you review them.
All references must be accurately and clearly cited, even if they are from course readings. Citations must include page
numbers of sources, and be made both within the text of your essay and in a bibliography. All the information you need
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for citations are included in the photocopies. Failure to include full and proper citations will result in a penalty on the
final grade. For guidance, go to sites like: <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/>
WEEK 4
A Psychoanalytic Approach and the Jewish American Tradition
Henry Jenkins III, “Anarchistic Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic.”
Geoff King, “Chapter 2: Transgressions and Regressions,” Film Comedy.
Screening:
Duck Soup (US: Leo McCarey, 1933)
WEEK 5
Jewish Americans: The Immigrant Sensibility and Social Criticism
Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint.
Screening:
The Nutty Professor (US: Jerry Lewis, 1963)
WEEK 6
Sam Girgus, “Philip Roth and Woody Allen: Freud and the Humor of the Repressed.”
Screening:
Annie Hall (US: Woody Allen, 1977)
Curb Your Enthusiasm: “The Baptism.”
WEEK 7
Satire and Parody
Geoff King, “Chapter 3: Satire and Parody,” Film Comedy.
Screening:
Dr. Strangelove (UK: Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
MIDTERM EXAM
WEEK 8
Comedy, Gender and Ethnicity
Geoff King, “Chapter 4: Comedy and Representation,” Film Comedy, 129-143.
Screening:
Blazing Saddles (US: Mel Brooks, 1974)
WEEK 9
Comedic Criticism of Gender Norms
Stanley Cavell, Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage.
Screening:
The Awful Truth (US: Leo McCarey, 1937)
WEEK 10
David Shumway, “Screwball Comedies: Constructing Romance, Mystifying Marriage.”
Screening:
Some Like It Hot (US: Billy Wilder, 1959)
His Girl Friday (US: Howard Hawks, 1940)
WEEK 11
Comedic Criticism of Racial Ideology
Geoff King, “Chapter 4: Comedy and Representation,” Film Comedy, 143-169.
Bambi L. Haggins, “Laughing Mad: The Black Comedian’s Place in American Comedy of the Post-Civil
Rights Era.”
Screening:
Pootie Tang (US: Louis CK, 2001)
WEEK 12
Is Comedy Universal?
Sean Homer, “Retrieving Emir Kusturica’s Underground as a Critique of Ethnic Nationalism.”
Screening:
Underground (Yugoslavia: Emir Kusturica, 1995)
WEEK 13
The Case of Hong Kong Comedy
Jenny Lau, “Besides Fists and Blood: Michael Hui and Cantonese Comedy.”
Screening:
Security Unlimited (Hong Kong: Michael Hui, 1981)
Geoff King, “Chapter 5: Comedy Beyond Comedy,” Film Comedy, 170-185.
WEEK 14
Dark Comedy
Screening:
Happiness (US: Todd Solondz, 1998)
Geoff King, “Chapter 5: Comedy Beyond Comedy,” Film Comedy, 185-196; Re-skim Aristotle from Week 2.
WEEK 15
Camp
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Geoff King, “Chapter 5: Comedy Beyond Comedy,” Film Comedy, 197-201.
Susan Sontag, “Notes on Camp.”
Conclusion
DUE ON FINAL DAY OF CLASS: REVISED FINAL PAPER
FINALS WEEK:
FINAL EXAMINATION
FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT
Write a 7-8 page analysis of a comedic text made before 2000. Compose a thesis statement that explains how
the its humor can help us to understand a facet of society. In other words, what can your selection and its
jokes in particular tell us about the culture, anxieties, preoccupations and issues of the period? Compared to
the first paper assignment in which you explained why a film was funny, this paper goes further and requires
you to extrapolate, and argue for why its humor is socially or culturally significant.
Some examples can be found among course readings, so use them for guidance on how analysis is
conducted. David Shumway discusses the relationship of screwball comedies to marriage and gender
relations in the 1930s. Bambi Haggins writes about African American comedians in the context of the civil
rights era. And we have also touched on how Woody Allen’s films borrow from the Jewish American
immigrant perspective.
Often, it is not enough to point vaguely to the social or cultural context that the text arises out of. Try to state
a case for where it specifically stands on an issue. Does it defy or reinforce social norms? Does it challenge
or propagate ideology? Therefore, instead of arguing too generally that “Pretty in Pink is about suburban
teenage angst,” a more specific thesis might claim that “the film’s criticism of social hierarchies is ultimately
blunted by the happy resolution of its plot.” Instead of saying that “Born in East LA is a comment on racial
stereotypes,” a more useful argument would be that “the film uses exaggerated Mexican-American
stereotypes in order to confront their falsity.” And rather than simply describing the ways that The Colbert
Report satirizes conservative talk shows, how about investigating the complexities of the show’s rightleaning viewers who experience the irony on a very separate level?
When you refer to or describe the cultural or social environment relevant to your paper, it is vital that you
cite credible sources for that historical information. You should not for example, simply state what the cause
for teenage angst in the 80s was since you do not have first-hand knowledge of it. Use the library for this
research. Online sources can be a part of that research process, but many online sources can be unedited,
unverifiable and not substantive.
All references must be accurately and clearly cited, even if they are from course readings. Citations must
include page numbers of sources, and be made both within the text of your essay and in a bibliography. All
the information you need for citations are included in the photocopies. Failure to include full and proper
citations will result in a penalty on the final grade. For guidance, go to sites like:
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/>
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